Once you’ve decided on residential addiction treatment, you
still need to decide where to get it. Insurance coverage/cost issues and
location preferences may limit the pool of available choices, but ideally,
you’ll still have the luxury to choose between rehab programs to find one that
best fits your needs and wants.

Finding a quality rehab that fits well with your
expectations and worldview increases the likelihood that you’ll stay
through the program to completion – and this raises the odds of a successful
and lasting recovery enormously.

Don’t make any treatment decision before getting informed
and thinking about what you truly need and want from a treatment experience. To
help in this process, review the glossary of common rehab program options
listed below and consider which types of programs might be a good match for
you.

12 Steps Based or Non 12 Steps Based

While many if not most residential treatment facilities
incorporate at the very least an introduction to 12 steps programs like
AA or
NA, some facilities consciously avoid such an introduction; citing many
people’s
discomfort with the spiritual/faith based side of the groups and a lack
of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of these programs. If you’re
really not
comfortable with the whole idea of a higher power, then a non-12 steps
based
rehab may be right for you.

Although 12 steps groups aren’t considered an evidence based
therapy, there is value in introducing those new to recovery to a group that
can provide long term sober community based support. For many people, a rehab
that incorporates 12 steps programming with other therapies and medications
offers a very well rounded base for continuing sobriety.

Adolescent Programs

Adolescent programs can vary greatly in scope, effectiveness
and specialization, but for a teen in trouble, an adolescent specific program
should be the only option worth considering. Teens do not do well in programs
not specifically designed for them and not filled with teen peers in like situations.

Christian or Other Faith Based

For many people, divorcing faith from a recovery experience
makes no sense at all. If you believe in God and if your faith gives you
strength and inspiration, then you should consider a program that will help you
in exploring how your relationship with God can assist you in your recovery
journey.

Many faith based programs will also offer the best of
secular addiction treatment knowledge and science.

For those on limited budgets and without insurance, faith
based programs offered at little or no charge to those in need can be found in
every state of the nation.

Co-Occurring Disorders Rehabs

Failing to deal with a mental illness leaves a person
vulnerable to relapse at the end of a treatment stay, no matter how effective
the rehab program.

People dealing with both an addiction and a mental health
challenge need treatment that will address both disorders concurrently.
If you’re dealing with depression, anxiety or other psychiatric disorders,
finding a facility with expertise or specialization in the treatment of
co-occurring disorders (dual diagnosis) should be at the top of your priority
list.

Executive Rehab (Luxury)

If you have a choice between a longer stay at a respected
but not luxurious treatment facility or a briefer stay getting pampered at an
executive facility, you’d be wise to choose the longer stay. Private massage
treatments, trips to the spa, chef cooked meals and resort quality surroundings
sure sound nice, but in all honesty, they don’t contribute much to your odds of
maintaining sobriety.

However, if you can afford the price tag of a reasonable
length of stay – some of the benefits of an executive rehab program include:

More
time spent working one on one with a private therapist or councilor

More
flexibility to accommodate any particular requests you have for your stay

Gender Specific (men only or women only)

Gender specific rehab programs can provide a good fit for
people who feel more comfortable fully opening up in front of peers of the same
gender.

It’s vital that you feel safe, focused and comfortable
during your recovery time. You know yourself best, and if you think that the
co-presence of those of the opposite gender could be a distraction, could keep
you from feeling comfortable to speak freely or could make you feel insecure in
any way, then a single gender rehab program might be a good fit for you.

There is no one right program for everyone – only a right
for you program!

GLBT

It is important that you get help in a program that makes
you feel safe and comfortable. Make sure that any program you consider commits
to tolerance and acceptance of all, and if you feel more comfortable in an
environment with others of a like sexual orientation, it may be worth searching
out a GBLT specific treatment program.

Holistic

Rehab programs that describe themselves as holistic
typically focus on the healing of the body, mind and spirit and in doing so
will often offer conventional addiction treatment complemented by more
alternative programming, such as yoga, massage, meditation, martial arts, sweat
lodge, equine or animal assisted therapy and many other modalities.

Long Term (Therapeutic Community)

Treatment can’t be rushed to fit into a busy schedule, and
so those that offer the moon in a week or two of treatment do not paint an
honest picture of the recovery experience. In general, longer stays in
treatment are associated with better outcomes – with three months of treatment
offering a lot more than a single month of care.

Treatment, however, need not always continue on an inpatient
basis, and many people find that an initial period in a primary care
residential rehab followed by a secondary participation in an intensive
outpatient program provides an excellent foundation for continued recovery.

Therapeutic communities are long term residential programs
(typically a few months to as long as 2 years) that have those in recovery live
and work within a community of other residents in recovery. These programs
offer conventional addiction treatment, but also strive to re-teach normal
living and life skills to those that may have spent a very long time with lives
that revolved mostly on the procurement and use of drugs or alcohol.

Sober Living Homes (Halfway Homes)

People coming out of a primary care treatment center may
choose to ‘step down’ into a sober living home (halfway home) before returning
to the complete freedom and temptation of their home environment.

Sober living homes typically offer affordable accommodation
for people who have just completed a stay in a primary care treatment
environment and who are continuing with treatment on an outpatient basis, or
who are reintegrating back into community employment or schooling. These homes
offer temptation free and supportive ‘sanctuaries’ to those who are ready to
put the lessons of rehab into practice in the real world, but who may not be
fully ready for a return to complete independent living.

Sober living homes are particularity recommended for people
who may lack a safe or sober home to return to, for those who’ve been drinking
or using hard for a very long time and for those who deal with co-occurring
disorders.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools

Therapeutic boarding schools are tailored for children and
teens who deal with substance abuse or addiction, and or emotional, psychiatric
or behavioral issues. These long term live-in programs generally feature a very
high staff to student ratio, very structured living, individually tailored
academic programming - and counseling and emotional wellness programs.

Wilderness Programs

Typically aimed at adolescents and younger adults,
wilderness programs have proven effective in helping those with, family, behavioral
or substance abuse challenges mature into more responsible and thoughtful
members of the community.

Teens with serious addictions to drugs or alcohol will
generally have to first complete a stay in a primary care treatment facility
before they can be admitted into a wilderness program.

Young Adult Programs

A person in their early twenties may have as little in
common with a man in his 40’s as they do a kid in her early teen years!

It can be useful for people to enter into a recovery program
with others who have similar experiences, outlooks and worldviews, so for those
just out of their teen years with addiction or behavioral issues, or for those
seemingly unable to thrive, young adult programs may be an appropriate choice.

Many of these programs will combine substance abuse
treatment services with academic or vocation programs that help a young person
get back on their feet, as well as other life skills training and independent
living skills training.

Rehab Programs Summary

Finding Effective Treatment

Some programs are better than others and some are a better fit for you than others. Never commit to a program without first doing your homework. You need to know what to look for to find an effective program and you need to know what type of program you want and need before you can hope to get that perfect match.

The Length of Treatment Is Important

Although luxuries can be tempting, you’ll get more for your money by staying for longer at a quality rehab than you’ll get from a briefer stay at a luxury facility.

Medications

Some programs won’t use medication on philosophical grounds. Should you enter into a program that chooses to ignore some of the most effective tools in the addiction treatment arsenal? Certain medications, when combined with other forms of addiction treatments, are proven to greatly increase a person’s chances for long term recovery.

This article describes what to expect when you go to your first AA/NA meeting. Many alcoholics and addicts hear a lot of rumors about what happens at meetings. Some people are afraid to go to their first meeting because they don't know what to expect. This article clears up all the rumors and will let you know exactly what to expect.Read Article

Christian 12 StepsChristians have taken the 12 steps of AA and altered these storied recovery steps to better reflect the healing power of direct prayer to Jesus Christ. Christian rehab uses the Christian 12 steps as a part of a spiritual solution to addiction, and when combined with prayer, bible study and religious instruction; recovering addicts leave treatment well equipped for a lifetime of better and sober living before God.Read Article